Unchained

While Solana DeFi protocol Jupiter staged what was by most measures a very successful airdrop launch on Wednesday, achieving a market cap of close to $800 million, the company’s critics pointed out numerous ways the company seemed to unfairly enrich itself in the process. While Jupiter’s founder, who goes by the pseudonym Meow, acknowledges he might have done some things differently, he finds the criticisms of the launch mostly based on “bad faith” and misinformation.   Meow joined Unchained to discuss the thinking behind the launch mechanics of JUP, how the prior launch of memecoin WEN served as a dry run for JUP, whether the aggressive pricing strategy of JUP was a mistake, and what he hopes to achieve with Jupiter next, including the possibility of enabling companies of all kinds to list themselves publicly on chain.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What Jupiter is and how it extends its functionality beyond mere token swapping What users are primarily utilizing the dollar-cost-average feature of Jupiter for Meow’s background in crypto and how he ended up in the Solana ecosystem Why a launchpad seemed the ideal choice for Jupiter's token launch What prompted the decision to release WEN, a memecoin, before launching JUP Meow's response to criticisms regarding the launchpad's mechanics Whether the aggressive pricing strategy for Jupiter was a misstep How Meow feels about being targeted for criticism What's on the horizon for Jupiter as a platform following the airdrop Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest: Meow, cofounder of Jupiter Links Unchained:  Jupiter Traders Claim Whopping 545 Million JUP Tokens in First 8 Hours of Airdrop Jupiter’s Airdropped Token JUP Debuts at a $878 Million Market Cap Pro-Ethereum Crowd Slams Solana-based Jupiter Airdrop as ‘Absolute Trash’ Breakpoint 2023 Meow conference The Block: Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter confirms token release date Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Feb 202449min

Sign up for our free newsletter here! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, believes the Internet’s early ideals of democratization and community ownership have been subverted by the consolidation of power into just a few small companies like Facebook and Google. He’s written a new book called Read Write Own in which he writes about this phenomenon, and argues that blockchain technology can help reverse the trend by providing an environment in which developers and entrepreneurs can once again build direct relationships with their audiences.  Dixon joins Unchained to discuss criticisms of crypto VC firms, how he feels now about a16z’s previous investment in Facebook, how crypto has become overly politicized in the U.S., why Facebook’s Libra project was ultimately shut down, the significant promise of restaking and EigenLayer in particular, and why he believes that creator royalties are essential for the NFT market.   Show highlights: what inspired Chris to write his new book and why he thinks the crypto industry is misunderstood what the current problems of the Internet are and how just a few companies control most of the revenue how Chris explains the concept of blockchains to the layman the importance of property rights in the real world and how blockchains make this better how Chris responds to the criticism that venture capital firms “dump on retail” and what a proper allocation of tokens to VCs is what the best designs are to achieve good governance in decentralized networks how the crypto industry has become politicized in the U.S.  what Chris thinks about a16z’s investment in Facebook why Facebook’s Libra project was shut down and his takeaways from the venture what lessons Chris learned from the 2022 crypto debacle, with the collapse of FTX, Terra, Celsius, 3AC, etc. where Chris sits in the debate about modular vs. monolithic networks how restaking and EigenLayer could “unlock a bunch of new design possibilities,” according to Chris the role of open source software in driving a better environment and better projects how decentralized social networks could attract new levels of adoption  whether creator royalties are necessary and why Chris believes that they are “non-negotiable” Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network Guest: Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, author of Read Write Own Previous appearance on Unchained: Chris Dixon on How Trust Is the Best Lego Links Tokenomics Unchained: What Is Tokenomics? A Beginner's Guide Venture Capital Unchained: Does Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No Modular vs. monolithic Unchained:  Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate What Are Modular Blockchains? A Beginner's Guide Restaking Unchained:  Do You Need to Think Twice Before Restaking Your Assets?  What Is Ethereum Restaking? A Beginner's Guide Royalties Unchained: Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! The 2022 debacle Unchained: Collapses, Bankruptcies, and Fraud: How 2022 Became the Year of Crypto Carnage SocialFi Unchained: What Is SocialFi? A Beginner’s Guide Crypto & AI Unchained: When AI and Blockchain Meet, How Can Each Technology Benefit? The Chopping Block: Why AI Will Change the Course of History in Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Jan 20241h 24min

Sign up for our free newsletter here! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. This week a major potential risk to Ethereum was highlighted by a bug that surfaced in Nethermind, a minority execution client. While the bug was fixed quickly, it raised the question of what would happen to the blockchain if Geth, which is used by more than two-thirds of validators and so is considered a “supermajority client,” had a bug. The situation could potentially result in a catastrophic fork of Ethereum.  Ethereum developer Lefteris Karapetsas joined Unchained to discuss the different scenarios of what could happen, the potential impact of a supermajority client issue on staking services such as Lido, why he feels the incentive system is poorly designed, and what other solutions are out there to address the lack of client diversity.  Show highlights: What a consensus issue is in Ethereum and what happened with Nethermind last weekend Why it would be a big problem if a supermajority client had a bug The potential impact on staking services such as Lido Why Lefteris feels like he is reliving the historic Ethereum DAO hack all over again Whether the largest entities running nodes will start pursuing client diversity How the data on the prevalence of specific Ethereum execution clients is not verifiable or programmatic, making it less transparent and difficult to analyze Why Lefteris believes that the incentive system is not designed to achieve client diversity Whether there are developments in the works to try to solve the lack of client diversity  Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest  Lefteris Karapetsas, Founder of Rotkiapp Previous appearance on Unchained: Is Code Law? Should the Hacker Be Punished? The DAO Creators Disagree Links Unchained:  Most Ethereum Staking Pools Are Using Just One Execution Client, Potentially Increasing Risks to the Network The Chopping Block: Data Availability & Why It’s Important CoinDesk: Bug That Took Down 8% of Ethereum's Validators Sparks Worries About Even Bigger Outage The Defiant: Ethereum Software Client Centralization Sparks Concern Crypto.news: Nethermind rolls out urgent fix for block processing bug in Ethereum client Lukasz Rosmej’s tweet that minority client Nethermind had a consensus issue Lefteris’ tweet on a supermajority Ethereum client bug  Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's tweet on what he’d do in a censorship resistance request scenario Run the majority client at your own peril! by Dankrad Feist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Jan 202440min

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week kicks off with a crucial question: Are the latest trends in crypto ETFs signaling a major shift in the investment landscape? We delve into the market's nuanced response to these ETFs and what it means for investors. How important is client diversity for Ethereum's stability and future growth? The squad engages in a lively debate on this topic. With the advent of Proto-Danksharding, how might Ethereum's scalability be impacted, and what are the implications for the blockchain ecosystem? We further examine the user experience across blockchain platforms, particularly comparing Solana and Ethereum in terms of their user interfaces and transaction dynamics. Looking to the future, what breakthroughs and challenges can we anticipate in blockchain technology? Join us for an in-depth exploration of these key questions and their profound impact on the world of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.   Show highlights:  🔹 ETF Market Analysis: Dissecting the impact of GBTC and other ETFs on the crypto market. 🔹 Client Diversity in Ethereum: Debating the pros and cons of multiple clients for network resilience. 🔹 Proto-Danksharding Effects: Assessing its potential to lower rollup costs and enhance scalability. 🔹 User Experience in Crypto: Exploring how fees and speeds affect user interactions on various platforms. 🔹 Solana vs. Ethereum UX: Comparing their user interfaces, focusing on transaction costs and latency. 🔹 Blockchain's Future Trends: Delving into predictions and emerging innovations in the blockchain world. 🔹 Ethereum's Protocol Evolution: Discussing the roadmap and future developments in Ethereum. 🔹 Scalability Solutions: Evaluating different approaches to scaling blockchains effectively. 🔹 Layer 2 Dynamics: Analyzing the growth and challenges of Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum.   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures   Disclosures Links Vitalik's post about Cypherpunk values: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/12/28/cypherpunk.html  PolyMarket for gas price per blob after EIP 4844: https://polymarket.com/event/gas-price-per-blob-1-month-after-eip-4844?tid=1706149992794  Tweet thread from DC investor: https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor/status/1749410364666606075  Ethereum's Proto-Danksharding and EIP-4844: https://www.eip4844.com/  Ethereum 2.0 Clients Dashboard: https://clientdiversity.org/#distribution  Solana's Firedancer: https://github.com/firedancer-io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Jan 20241h

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Polychain Capital founder and CIO Olaf Carlson-Wee has been through every single bubble in crypto history, from Bitcoin’s rise past the single digits in 2012 to the ICO craze of 2017 to 2021’s NFT mania, and he says his main thesis about crypto has remained consistent since the beginning. That is, that crypto constitutes an “incentive vortex” that will replace the world’s preoccupation with country-backed currencies.  Carlson-Wee, who was the first employee at Coinbase, joins Unchained to discuss the significance of the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs, how he successfully navigated all the industry blow-ups in 2022, the challenges of balancing incentives for early adopters versus new users, why EigenLayer is so significant, why Worldcoin’s distribution strategy is a “disaster,” and the strange places that the intersection between crypto and AI could take us.  Show highlights: Why Olaf sees the current market as the cusp of another bull run and how his thesis has remained consistent since 2011​​ How the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs marks a significant milestone  Why criticisms of the crypto space are really criticisms of money in general  The fundamental differences between Web3 applications and the Web2 ecosystem and why they matter The importance of fair token distribution in enhancing the value of Web3 projects When Olaf expects Bitcoin to replace legacy financial systems The areas and technologies Olaf and his fund are keen to invest in Why Olaf thinks a modular blockchain architecture is superior to a monolithic one in the long term How EigenLayer is innovating to enable new types of applications and whether it competes with Celestia How Polychain managed to avoid being hurt by the major market blowups of 2022, including Terra and FTX The evolution of the space from an ideologically driven to a more pragmatic approach The significance of incentive design in crypto ecosystems and the trade-offs involved in system design Olaf’s perspective on the recent rise of points systems The growth of privacy-focused crypto projects and the potential for private blockchains to become the norm Why he thinks Worldcoin’s distribution strategy is a “disaster” Olaf’s interest in the intersection of AI and crypto and potential developments in this area His bullish outlook on SocialFi and Web3 gaming Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network Guest: Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder and CIO of Polychain Capital Previous appearances on Unchained: Olaf Carlson-Wee: 'If There Is a Money-Losing Exploit, the Money Is Gone'  Why The First Employee Of Coinbase Launched A Hedge Fund To the Moon and Back With Polychain's Olaf Carlson-Wee Special Episode with CNBC's Crypto Trader: Olaf Carlson-Wee on Why This Crypto Winter Is Different From Previous Ones All Things Cryptoeconomics, Pt. 1, With Olaf Carlson-Wee and Ryan Zurrer of Polychain Capital Links Olaf Carlson-Wee Forbes:  This Man Has Been Living On Bitcoin For 3 Years Why This Hedge Fund CEO Once 'Put Most Of My Meager Life Savings Into Bitcoin' TechCrunch: The future is a decentralized internet Blockworks: Why Polychain Capital Founder Never Sells His Crypto  CoinDesk: Olaf Carlson-Wee: Crypto Is the Great Wealth-Redistribution Machine Restaking/EigenLayer Unchained:  DeFi Protocol EigenLayer Reaches Restaking Capacity, Pushing TVL Past $1.4 Billion Do You Need to Think Twice Before Restaking Your Assets?  Olaf’s tweet on EigenLayer Crypto + AI Olaf’s tweet: “in crypto nearly 100% of value accrues to start-ups and outsiders, not existing establishment interests” Visit Unchained for more links and details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Jan 20241h 21min

On Wednesday, a federal court in New York heard oral arguments in Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case against it for, among other things, allegedly acting as an unregulated securities exchange. Notably, Judge Katherine Polk Failla pressed the SEC to explain how it has jurisdiction over Coinbase in the case by defining what it considers a security.  Sam Enzer, a partner at Cahill Gorden & Reindel who represents Coinbase but not in this matter, joined Unchained to discuss why this case is so significant for the crypto industry, how he believes the government contradicted itself on the crucial definition of what constitutes a security, why he thinks the judge will not dismiss the case at this early stage, how the Ripple and Terraform Labs cases could be used by each side, and why he thinks Judge Failla is such a perfect choice to rule in this case.   Show highlights: Why SEC v Coinbase holds important implications for the U.S. crypto ecosystem What the SEC alleges against Coinbase, focusing on its trading platform, wallet, and staking services How Coinbase forcefully counters the SEC's claims as it strives to get the case dismissed What the “major questions doctrine” entails and its critical role in this dispute Why Sam perceives the judge as “extremely skeptical” of the SEC's stance Whether inconsistencies surfaced in the SEC lawyers' arguments What “strict liability” means and its frequent mention in this legal battle What takeaways from the Ripple and Terraform Labs cases offer about secondary market sales Why Sam believes Judge Katherine Polk Failla is exceptionally well-suited for this case Whether Judge Failla might reject the motion to dismiss, and when  Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel Previous appearances on Unchained:  Why SBF's Testimony So Far Has Likely Already Doomed Him Another Bad Week for Sam Bankman-Fried in His Criminal Trial Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge How Might That Impact the Trial? Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the Coinbase case and the topic of securities: SEC Sues Binance, Coinbase: ‘This Is Not the End of Crypto in the United States’  These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler Coinbase’s Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next? Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Coinbase vs. SEC Unchained:  Federal Judge Presses SEC Over Jurisdiction in Case Against Coinbase SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance’s Assets, Asks for ‘Sworn Accounting’ SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit Cointelegraph: Senator Lummis files amicus brief supporting Coinbase’s dismissal motion against SEC. Other cases Kraken CNBC: Crypto exchange Kraken settles with SEC for $30 million, will close US staking operation XRP Unchained: SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security Terraform Labs Reuters: Judge sides with US SEC, says Terraform Labs crypto founder Do Kwon violated law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Jan 202455min

Welcome to The Chopping Block, where crypto experts Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner bring you inside perspectives on critical topics in the crypto world. This episode delves into the complexities and market impact of crypto ETFs: Are they a game-changer for investors? The team also examines the controversies surrounding Tether, exploring its stability and the implications of recent scandals. They then shift focus to the burgeoning world of asset-backed securities and crypto casinos: What potential and challenges do they present? NFTs and their evolving role beyond digital art are scrutinized, along with the integration of crypto technology in devices like the Solana phone. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on these critical developments shaping the future of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  🔹 ETF Performance Analysis: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Competitors. 🔹 Circle IPO: Impact on Stablecoin Market and Financial Ecosystem. 🔹 Tether Controversy: Financial Backing and Southeast Asian Scams. 🔹 Vivek Ramaswamy's Political Future: Influence on Crypto Policy. 🔹 Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) in Crypto: Opportunities for Investors. 🔹 Crypto Casinos: Rise in Popularity and Move Toward Transparency. 🔹 NFTs in Mainstream Culture: Adoption and New Use Cases. 🔹 Crypto and Traditional Finance: Stablecoins like USDC and Tether. 🔹 Crypto Integration in Devices: Solana Phone and Market Adoption. Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Blockworks: Tether says UN needs more blockchain education in response to USDT report by Casey Wagner  UNODC: Casinos, Money Laundering, Underground Banking, and Transnational Organized Crime in East and Southeast Asia: A Hidden and Accelerating Threat CNBC: Costco sold more than $100 million in gold bars last quarter by Spencer Kimball Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise And Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux CNBC: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: Bitcoin ETF approvals are ‘stepping stones’ towards tokenization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Jan 20241h

Thursday was a momentous day in crypto as the first SEC-approved spot Bitcoin ETFs finally began trading after more than a decade of waiting, and by almost all accounts, it was a huge success, with more than $625 million in inflows on the first day of trading.  Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and VanEck head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel joined Unchained to discuss their approaches towards selling their products in the market, the challenges of competing with larger firms like BlackRock and Fidelity, the fee wars and where those are headed, the importance of specialist expertise in the crypto investment space, and how Bitcoin prices might react to all the new supply in the market.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Why Matt Hougan regards the first week as a massive success for Bitcoin How Matthew Sigel emphasizes the costs and benefits ETFs offer to retail investors The strategic marketing approaches of VanEck and Bitwise aligning with Bitcoin community values The reasons for Bitwise's standout performance in the first days of trading, according to Matt Whether the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs will reshape the broader ETF landscape Matt's perspective on why some financial institutions resist Bitcoin, and their eventual openness to crypto Whether the established players in finance feel threatened by the rise of open source technologies Whether Gary Gensler’s statement after the approval is “totally crazy” Why data for the various ETFs in the market should be analyzed on a weekly or monthly basis The ongoing fee competition and how smaller entities can compete against giants like BlackRock and Fidelity Grayscale's strategies to remain competitive with higher fees and the possibility of launching a new, low-fee ETF How investment advisors might adapt to these new crypto products and the potential for mainstream adoption Matthew’s predictions for when BTC investors, both short-term and long-term, will take profits Why they are both closely monitoring Ethereum's performance and the prospects for a spot ether ETF in the market Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guests: Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management Previous appearances on Unchained: Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck. Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: Why Some Brokerage Firms Are Blocking Access to Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday  Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved? The 4 Factors That Will Determine Which Spot Bitcoin ETFs Win Market Share How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Approval: Unchained:  Spot Bitcoin ETFs Finally Receive SEC Seal of Approval What Officials, ETF Issuers, and Others Are Saying About the SEC's Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals Laura Shin’s op-ed on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are (But Mostly Aren't) a Big Deal for Crypto David Z. Morris’ op-ed on Unchained: The SEC’s Bumbling Bitcoin ETF Rollout Was Perfectly On-Brand First days of trading Unchained:  Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record $4.6 Billion First Day Trading Volume Spot Bitcoin ETF Inflows Topped $625 Million on First Day in ‘Phenomenal’ Debut, Led by Bitwise Vanguard Isn’t Allowing Customers to Buy Spot Bitcoin ETFs Visit Unchained for more links and details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Jan 20241h 11min